stevie_b

Cheap speed converters can cause the power steering to be over-assisted at moderate speeds (50mph ish). That doesn't match your symptoms exactly, but worth considering. To elaborate: the cheap ones simply scale back the speed signal by 5/8 to get mph from kph. That works fine for the speedo dial itself, but not great for the ECU and other peripherals that also use the speed signal. The ECU is programmed to provide more steering assistance at, say, 30mph than it does at say 50mph. But at 50mph, if the speed signal is simply scaled back, the ECU thinks the car is only doing 30mph, and provides more assistance than it would if it knew the car was going at 50mph.

That, and that. Sounds like it might make the engine backfire: not recommended.

There's a company near me that has a 3D body scanner that can be used to produce things like that. Not sure if they're able to enhance specific areas though.

As said, either the replacement has sticky pistons as well as your original, and/or the slider pins are not sliding well.

Converters in general do have a reputation of failing. Some makes are a lot more reliable than others. Reasons for failing tend to be either it's a cheap ebay unit to begin with, or the soldering to splice it to the loom is shoddy. It's very unusual for them to revert back to reading kph though: are you sure about this? If they fail, you usually lose the entire speed signal and the speedo stays at zero. The converter is usually placed somewhere behind the speedo clocks (you'll need to take the dashboard fascia off, not a hard job), but sometimes they are mounted above the gearbox. You're generally looking for a very small device with 4 or 5 wires coming out of it. It can be as small as a piece of chewing gum.

"... with tasteful mods..."

It'd be worth finding out if the dealer is run by Toyota UK, or is a franchise.

£4k sounds about right. It's top-end money but the car sounds like a very good example: nice modifications, well maintained, with none of the rubbish mods that often blight these cars.

As above, I'd be surprised if sticky brake pistons are causing this. Anyhow, you can tell if a piston (or brake in general) is sticking by going for a drive for 20 mins with plenty of braking, then park up and with the back of your hand as near as possible to the brake disc (without touching it!) carefully feel for excessive heat. Use all 4 corners as a reference as to what's excessive: hopefully they won't all be sticking. Worth checking your brake pads are in good nick. Video or it didn't happen.

CTEK for me.

The front OEM speaker grilles are much bigger than the OEM speakers behind them. So, measuring the speaker grilles won't give you an accurate estimation of the size of the speaker itself.

Do you have the standard key fob? I suspect most cars do not use this. Best way is to pop it open to have a look of course.

I suspect the OP was too. I think most of us suspect the OP has a digital throttle. Maybe Tiff was demonstrating what could happen in the skid if someone with lesser driving skills was behind the wheel. I'm sure some drivers' favoured method of crash avoidance is to close their eyes, bury the brake pedal into the carpet and shout "ohmygodohmygodohmygod!". As long as he applies a similar level of expertise to the ESP-enabled run, it seems a fair test to me. Those electronic aids do look very competent. They still only push the envelope of what the car can do, but they may well push it far enough so that most drivers don't get to experience what it's like being outside that envelope (and thus avoiding the underwear laundry bill). Whether that's a good or a bad thing, I'll let you lot decide.

Go on, I'm intrigued.

That and bignum's post sound spot-on. Traction control can help you out, but it only pushes the boundary a bit of what the car can do. No amount of electronics can make your car break the laws of physics.

Your best bet is to get some quotes from garages local to you who do that sort of thing. A small number of people on here (not me, I've no idea) could give you an indication of what parts would need changing and their cost, but labor charges are country-specific so you're unlikely to get an accurate figure on here. Same with insurance: get quotes. Prices can vary wildly with specific circumstances (they do in the UK anyway). Is car import tax in Canada very expensive? If not, what about importing a car from the US or continental Europe? If you don't know any car importers, speak to Jurgen on here (jurgen-jm-imports): he'll either be able to import to Canada, or if he doesn't he may know someone who does.

Halfords is the convenient and immediate option. For the more price-conscious, I've always had great service from these guys and their website is easy to use: http://www.performancebatteries.co.uk/ Looks like they list a couple of batteries for the supra, and either one should be fine. I'd go for the Varta: http://www.performancebatteries.co.uk/product/D47/. At £55 it's cheaper than both of the Halfords ones, and has a higher cold-cranking amps rating. Or as someone has said, Toyota dealers can be surprisingly competitive on price.

Welcome to the club.

This. Toyota sell a starter motor refurb kit for sensible money, so you can refurb your one instead of shelling out megabucks for a brand new unit or take a gamble with a 2nd hand unit. I've never personally refurbed one but I'm led to believe the hardest part of the job is removing it from the car, something you'd need to do whether you do a straight swap or a refurb.

I can't see this working. On a related note, isn't Gareth Bale trying to trademark the heart shape he likes to make with his hands?

It sounds like a tired battery, but just to make sure, next you have to bump it (do you really mean "bump start", as in pushing it down a hill and turning the key?), turn off the engine and try to re-start it. If it doesn't start, it's probably the battery (as I suspect). If it does start, it'll be the starter motor contacts (not likely based on what you've said).

steveo: by "a little push", what do you mean? It sounds like the battery is indeed draining, but if it hasn't got enough power left to run the dashboard clock, I'd say it would need a jump start or if you're feeling brave a bump start. Can you go into more detail about the symptoms? AJI: I'm no expert either but batteries have a finite life. Charging an old battery doesn't restore it to factory-fresh condition. Over time the battery will hold less charge as the internal cells get less efficient. I think it's corrosion/deposits on the electrical plates over time but don't quote me on that. I wouldn't be surprised if my car wouldn't start after 2 or 3 weeks being left alone. 9V sounds too low to start the car, but again don't take my word for it.

... and mapped for a different grade of fuel.

Although their car looks OK, the structure underneath might have been bent. Bumpers can crack then pop back into shape.

What did they say? Was it the perpetrators or witnesses? I'm interested in a voyeuristic way about how spineless people can be.